Picture books instill in children a sense of awe, magic, and wonderment,
but who inspires the illustrators themselves—the people who bring
incredibly imaginative worlds to life? Organized by two prominent
figures in the field, Tony DiTerlizzi and Mo Willems, this exhibition
gives visitors a peek into the minds and motivations of an array of
talented artists working today. Visit The Carle to find out who inspires
Tony and Mo, as well as Sophie Blackall, Sandra Boynton, Ashley Bryan,
Eric Carle, Bryan Collier, Marla Frazee, Laurie Keller, Lauren Long,
Patrick McDonnell, Yuyi Morales, Kadir Nelson, LeUyuen Pham, Jerry
Pinkney, Robin Preiss Glasser, Judy Schachner, Lane Smith, and—with a
special contribution from his foundation—the late Maurice Sendak.

Just
look at the list of these artists. This is once in a lifetime show and
Tony and I couldn't be happier to have so many of our heroes and
heroes' heroes exhibited together.

Here's a short video of Tony & I backstage at the museum:

The exhibit runs thru NOVEMBER 27, 2017.

APPEARANCES!

INSPIRATION DAY

Saturday Oct. 07, 2017

10 am - 4 pm

The Eric Carle MuseumAmherst, MAIn conjunction with the COLLECTING INSPIRATION exhibit, we've managed to get 11 of the artists involved with the exhibit to come to the Carle for panels, art sessions, signings and more!This will be a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime gathering. Check out the attendees:

A few weeks back I sat down and drew with the New York Times childrens editor, Maria Russo on facebook. We doodled, we answered live questions, she drew Piggie using steps from ELEPHANT & PIGGIE'S WE ARE IN AN ART-TIVITY BOOK! I showed early work. It was fun.

ELEPHANT & PIGGIE'S WE ARE IN AN ART-TIVITY BOOK!is also a sequel of sorts. 5 years ago my pal Mr. Warburton and I collaborated on DON'T LET THE PIGEON FINISH THIS ACTIVITY BOOK! and we had so much fun, we thought we'd try it again! In this big, thick book you'll get to create all kinds of real art (portraits, sculptures, mobiles, collages, still lives) with Elephant & Piggie and a new friend, Art Vaark, then you'll get to have a big exhibition of your awesome work, and THEN a pigeon-y ART CRITIC arrives! What will happen? I hope you'll draw, doodle, cut and paste your way into finding out!

APPEARANCES!

I will have 2 appearances this month, one virtual and one physical. Both will explore ELEPHANT & PIGGIE'S WE ARE IN AN ART-TIVITY BOOK!

Tuesday, September 12, 20174pm ESTThe New York Times Facebook Live Feed.For this exclusive live feed event, I'll be chatting with the NYT's Maria Russo* and making her draw various characters and activities with me (shhh... don't tell her). Hopefully, you'll tune in & join in as well!

Mr. Warburton & I promoting our previous collaboration, DON'T LET THE PIGEON FINISH THIS ACTIVITY BOOK!. Expect more of the same from WE ARE IN AN ART-TIVITY BOOK!

Saturday, September 23, 2017

WE ARE IN AN ART-TIVITY BOOK! CELEBRATION ALL DAY, starting at 10 am

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book ArtAmherst, MAI'll be joining my collaborator, Mr. Warburton, creator of Cartoon Network's CODENAME: KIDS NEXT DOOR and current exec. producer for the upcoming re-boot of MUPPET BABIES with readings and presentations and signings and fun!

There will be crafts! Elephant & Piggie will be there for pictures! You can check out the wonderful COLLECTING INSPIRATION exhibit (see below)! The full schedule is here.Make your reservations for the readings, as those tend to sell out quickly.

EXHIBITS!

There are 3 very different exhibits with my work in (or on) them this month.

Picture books instill in children a sense of awe, magic, and wonderment,
but who inspires the illustrators themselves—the people who bring
incredibly imaginative worlds to life? Organized by two prominent
figures in the field, Tony DiTerlizzi and Mo Willems, this exhibition
gives visitors a peek into the minds and motivations of an array of
talented artists working today. Visit The Carle to find out who inspires
Tony and Mo, as well as Sophie Blackall, Sandra Boynton, Ashley Bryan,
Eric Carle, Bryan Collier, Marla Frazee, Laurie Keller, Lauren Long,
Patrick McDonnell, Yuyi Morales, Kadir Nelson, LeUyuen Pham, Jerry
Pinkney, Robin Preiss Glasser, Judy Schachner, Lane Smith, and—with a
special contribution from his foundation—the late Maurice Sendak.

Just
look at the list of these artists. This is once in a lifetime show and
Tony and I couldn't be happier to have so many of our heroes and
heroes' heroes exhibited together.

The exhibit runs thru NOVEMBER 17, 2017.
There will be many special events happening throughout the run of the
show featuring many of the illustrious illustrators. While there is no
opening, we will be throwing a big celebration in October featuring many
of the artists in the show.

Here's a short video of Tony & I backstage at the Carle:

PAINT THAT BOX! THE DUCK OF DESTINY, PUP OF PROGRESS!Northampton Council For the Arts ProjectMain Street & Pleasant StreetNorthampton, MA

This summer, Team Willems painted one of the large electrical boxes in the middle of downtown Northampton. It was hot! The paint was sticky! It was FUN!You can drop by and check it out if you come to town.

The CARLE HONORSis an opportunity to honor the best in our business and to help the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art continue it's mission of promoting, celebrating, and encouraging childrens book illustration as an art form.

My submission this year is an early sketch of the Knuffle Bunny Statue, which as of this writing is scheduled to be located in the new garden of the Brooklyn Public Library on 9th Street and 6th Ave in Park Slope, Brooklyn (just a few blocks down from the real Knuffle Bunny Laundromat).

Thanks to YOU, Elephant & Piggie's WAITING IS NOT EASY!popped back onto the New York TimesBestseller list for a couple of weeks in July allowing it to reach a career landmark of 52 weeks or one (non-consecutive) YEAR! Not the book I'd have thought would achieve this, but the title is a funny one for the feat! Many, many thanks, you!

Additionally, an old favorite Elephant & Piggie's WE ARE IN A BOOK! also popped on and off the NYT list this summer! Wow!

Finally, the New York Times commissioned one of my favorite cartoonists, Linears, to write about going back to school. It's a charming story about one of his kids and includes pals Elephant & Piggie. You can read the strip here.

"This loving heads-up will continue to resonate
with all offspring as they go on to toddle, big-kid, and beyond."

School Library Journal called it, "A humorous, loving take on the excitement and nervousness, tenderness and heartache, and worry and fear of new parenthood."

The New York Times chimed in saying, "There’s no children’s book creator quite like Willems, and no book quite like this one... The humor cloaks wise and reassuring words that
give parents subtle cues, like a recurring reminder of all that happens
“while we read this book together.”

Thanks to all of the Teachers and their ilk who took advantage of the Kohl's Care program featuring stuffies of The Pigeon, Duckling, Elephant, Piggie, & Knuffle Bunny. It's my understanding that many of the specially produced stuffies and books have SOLD OUT, but the program runs through September, AND NEW SHIPMENTS WILL BE MADE!

Check on line or call your local Kohl's. When they're gone, they're gone!

Thank you for your wild enthusiasm, I was touched to see how happy kids and teachers were with the program.

Pal Bryan Collier has created the 4th installment of the ELEPHANT & PIGGIE LIKE READINGseries. Bryan and I will be signing together..

A
more regular appearance schedule will begin in the fall with a reading
and signing for the new Elephant & Piggie activity book (WE ARE IN AN ART-TIVITY BOOK!) with my collaborator and pal, Mr. Warburton at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA.

EXHIBITS!

There are two exhibits of my work to attend this summer (assuming you're in the area).

Picture books instill in children a sense of awe, magic, and wonderment,
but who inspires the illustrators themselves—the people who bring
incredibly imaginative worlds to life? Organized by two prominent
figures in the field, Tony DiTerlizzi and Mo Willems, this exhibition
gives visitors a peek into the minds and motivations of an array of
talented artists working today. Visit The Carle to find out who inspires
Tony and Mo, as well as Sophie Blackall, Sandra Boynton, Ashley Bryan,
Eric Carle, Bryan Collier, Marla Frazee, Laurie Keller, Lauren Long,
Patrick McDonnell, Yuyi Morales, Kadir Nelson, LeUyuen Pham, Jerry
Pinkney, Robin Preiss Glasser, Judy Schachner, Lane Smith, and—with a
special contribution from his foundation—the late Maurice Sendak.

Just
look at the list of these artists. This is once in a lifetime show and
Tony and I couldn't be happier to have so many of our heroes and
heroes' heroes exhibited together.

The exhibit runs thru NOVEMBER 17, 2017.
There will be many special events happening throughout the run of the
show featuring many of the illustrious illustrators. While there is no
opening, we will be throwing a big celebration in October featuring many
of the artists in the show. Stay tuned!

CALDECOTT CELEBRATIONAWARD WINNING AMERICAN ARTISTS

Hyundai Museum of Kids Books & ArtSeoul, South Korea

It's
a thrill to be included in this exhibit feature book and personal work
from a slew of Caldecott winners and honorees. If you find yourself in
Seoul, give the museum of a visit.

Yale's wonderful Beinecke Library has two companion exhibits on view, one of which, Bird Watching, has a special easter-egg image in the style of John J Audubon, THE COMMON NORTH AMERICAN DREAMING DEPOT PIGEON, a colaboration between myself and my graphic designer and pal, Scott Sosebee.